Holiday on Friday right decision: Kaira

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Karia on Saturday said that the announcement of holiday on Friday helped to minimize losses.

Explaining this, the minister said there would have been more incidents of sabotage had government offices, educational institutions, markets and banks if it remained open on Friday”.

Kaira said that it was the responsibility of political and religious leadership to stop protesters from ransacking public and private property.He said there was no justification of violence after the condemnation of the anti-Islam film by the Cabinet, parliament and foreign office.

Kaira also condemned double standards of the West on the pretext of freedom of expression and demanded sacrilege be declared a global crime like holocaust.He said the situation would have not taken that much ugly shape had Rawalpindi police taken timely action to stop entry of protesters in Islamabad.

The minister also lamented media role by giving live coverage to incidents of sabotage thus further fuelling the violence.